


LCK: Old Friends & New Enemies

by declan4



Series: LCK: Origins [2]
Category: Looks Can Kill
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Cat Burglars, Catfights, Cinematic Violence, Data Heist, F/F, Female Friendship, Flirting, Gangsters, Gen, Hand-To-Hand Combat, Intrigue, Mild Sexual Tension, More Flashbacks, Nice Bra, Nostalgia, Secret Crush, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-11-18 13:52:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18121823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/declan4/pseuds/declan4
Summary: Madison's mission leads her to looking up old friends, even as she closes in on dangerous opponents.





	1. Echoes From The Past

**Author's Note:**

> Second Part of my LCK fic. A bit more character background and uncovering of mystery. Hopefully intriguing.

 

As the sun rose to greet the new day, Madison jogged along the beach. Her feet pounded the sand; every breath of morning air she took was cool, crisp and still rich with the tang of salt spray from the receding tide. The ground under her was soft and dry, sapping the speed from her legs as she jogged past the mile marker indicating the end of her stretch of beach. At that point she slowed to a stop, turned on her heels and paused to stretch out her legs, a quick break before the return home.

 

Madison always enjoyed being outside at this time of day. The peace and solitude of early morning soothed and cleared her head, but it also gave her the feeling that everything around her was in the process of being renewed, brought back to life in vivid colour and motion. Like the way the emerging sun pushed the dark, bruising purples of the night to make room for burnished orange clouds streaked of red and gold. A new day bringing new possibility and the calm only helped her appreciate it all the more.

 

After another moment of lingering thought Madison kicked off her back foot and started back the way she had come, finding the rhythm and cadence that would eat up her distance home. The whirl of a gentle ocean breeze fluttered against her sports top, stirring the orange running shorts against her flashing legs and blowing at the strand or two of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. She focused on losing herself in the sensation of that speed, chasing her own shadow across the glistening golden beach. After a while Madison glanced at her wrist watch and scowled, several minutes down on her best time, she shouldn’t have rested for as long as she had.

 

She wiped at her forehead with bare arm and picked up the pace, fighting as the sand absorbed her speed and dragged at her feet. She felt the first tugs of real fatigue in her thighs and ignored it, pushing on past the sandy dunes on one side and the roiling tide on the other.

 

Another few minutes and Madison was into the last stretch and mounting the curving stone steps that lazily wended their way up the hillside to her home. She felt another tremor of weariness run through her as she kicked her legs up higher, taking the steps two at a time as she fought the killer gradient she pushed up the path and around the side of her house.

She rounded the corner on to the patio and stopped at the edge of the pool just long enough to strip down to her underwear, before diving in. Slicing beneath the surface before rising and letting her arms and shoulders carry her across the water. In the pool she let her upper body do most of the work, her legs already feeling the weight of the past miles run, and pulled herself, armful after armful around a dozen laps of the pool until the tendons and muscles in her arms, chest and shoulders started to burn. She broke the surface and paddled for the side, gulping in great lungful of air as she did so.

 

Madison grabbed the edge of the pool and hauled herself upright, braced herself and then turned to sit on the edge. She looked at her watch again and stopped the timer. She’d managed to make up some of her lost time in the pool but it was still far from her best.

 

“I could get exhausted just watching you.” A voice spoke up from behind her.

 

Madison twisted around in surprise to see Zoe sitting up on one of the sun loungers. She was clad in a brief bright red bikini under a vibrant but clashing blue Hawaiian shirt, left unbuttoned so as to artfully drape across her and showed off her colourful winged heart tattoo. Bright yellow sunglasses perched on top of her head completed Zoe’s rarely glimpsed beach look. Or pool look in this case.

 

Madison smiled slightly as she brought her arms up and wrung out her hair. “Been there long?”

 

Zoe scooted forward and put her feet down on the patio. She was wearing Hawaiian patterned flip-flops that matched her shirt. “Long enough to witness you completing your ‘iron man’ routine.”

 

Madison shook her head. “It’s just exercise.”

 

“No Maddy, _I_ just exercise,” She gestured at her own trim form, “Your work-out makes me look like a bloody pork scratching.”

 

Madison’s smile quirked in bemusement. “Look like a what-now?”

 

Zoe made a vague gesture with her hand. “Pub snack food, they’re about eighty per cent fat. You’re probably allergic to them on principal.”

 

Madison chuckled as she turned and boosted herself to her feet and walked over to the lounger next to Zoe. She plucked up the towel that she’d left there earlier in the morning and draped it over her shoulders. “You talking about _pork rinds_ and I’ve actually had them before, y’know. Louis can’t get enough of ‘em.”

 

Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Your boss serves pub snacks at the strip club? I don’t know... that seems kind of strange to me. Unhygienic maybe?”

 

Madison shifted on her hips as she dried her hair. “We have a bar there remember, for customers who want a drink between ogling the girls. And he’s not my boss anymore.” She changed the subject, “Anyway, why are you out and about this early? Is your bed on fire?”

 

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Hilarious. As a matter of fact I’m here to bask.” Zoe made an expansive gesture with her hands.

 

Madison peered up at the sky. “You might have to wait until a little later for some full on sun worshipping.”

 

“Not in sun, in praise; specifically _your_ praise. I found out something important. Turns out your barmy, coke-head, grenade-throwing arms dealer might actually have been making sense after all. Shocking I know.”

 

Madison felt a small surge of excitement at the news but she kept her cool. No need to swell Zoe’s head too much. She corrected her instead. “Actually it was a rocket launcher.”

 

Zoe scratched at the back of her head and scrunched up her face. “So, who had the grenades again?”

 

“That would be the blonde in the monster truck.”

 

Zoe nodded slowly and then smirked as she lay back on her lounger. “Right. I never realised before but we lead such similar lives you and I.”

 

“Last week wasn’t exactly a typical week for me either, Zoe.”

Madison had turned the mystery blonde’s sudden appearance over and over in her mind, wondering at her significance.

 

The only conclusion that Madison could come to was that Garza had been targeted by somebody else, somebody who had decided that then had been the best time to hit his compound.

But even that seemed too much of a coincidence to be possible.

She shook off the lingering thought, “So, you found out about this diplomat then?”

 

Zoe nodded. “Took me most of the weekend to put this all together. It turns out he’s dead.”

 

Madison just stared for a moment. “What do you mean he’s _dead_? How did it even _take_ you three days to find that out?”

She blew out a disappointed breath, “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are.”

 

Madison glanced down and chewed on her bottom lip sourly as she thought about what to do next. She knew that Garza had contacts at the Miami ports that she hadn’t targeted yet; maybe one of them knew some of his bigger, more anonymous, suppliers. It meant that it would take a lot more time to get anything more solid than another dead end.

 

Zoe gave her a slightly superior stare followed by an exaggerated sniff. “Really, I’m slightly miffed that you think so little of my skills. I came here to get showered in praise, not to get scowled at. For your information I found out a lot more than just _that_. Ekram Amador, Turkish Diplomat, died a little over eight years ago in London. More accurately he was brutally _murdered_ in his hotel room along with his entire security detail.”

 

That got Madison’s attention. “Murdered? By who?”

 

“The police never found them, whoever they were. Ekram and all his bodyguards were shot and stabbed to death in some late-night assault on their suite. The news at the time speculated that it was the work of Kurdish separatists, since it was a semi-professional hit and Amador had been a fairly vocal critic of their whole movement.”

 

Intrigued, Madison sat down on the lounger next to Zoe, draped the towel across her shoulders and pulled her hair out of its ponytail. “Is that likely do you think?”

 

Zoe shrugged as she answered. “At first glance it looked like a pretty good theory. At the time the PPK had just started making lots of violent noise about not being listened to by the Turkish government. Which included some terrorist attacks, although nothing ever this flashy. But then this Amador guy seemed to be a lot more important than a mere minor diplomat. His career started in the mid-eighties, and he seemed to have had a whole bunch of connections both in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. So he’s busily brokering deals and whispering in influential ears, whatever it is that diplomats do, and then between the oil boom and the end of the cold war with all of Russia opening up, this guy makes a fortune. I mean, he’s perfectly placed to seriously clean up and be everywhere that’s important, rubbing shoulders with all these oil sheiks and oligarchs. His death made some pretty big waves in the papers, and then faded quickly. Suspiciously quickly actually.”

 

Madison raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you think it was some sort of cover-up?”

 

“I’m saying that this Amador guy was a lot more than a simple diplomat. That was just his day job. He had way more influence than his lowly position would warrant. Maybe somebody was close to figuring that out, and so the investigation was shut down. Blaming the nearest scapegoat was as good a tactic as any for doing so.”

She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows, “But it gets better, because the mystery of this guy getting murdered isn’t even the most interesting part.”

 

With that Zoe stood up and crooked a beckoning finger. “Come, I have visual aids inside. Just try not to drip over everything.”

 

So Madison followed Zoe inside the pool house to her den of technology, and stood wrinkling her nose at the slightly musty smell the other girl’s room was starting to acquire.

Zoe settled herself down on a stool next to her work bench and tapped at one of the keyboards. A monitor sprang to life displaying some image from a glossy tabloid magazine. It showed a young man staggering out of a nightclub sandwiched between two party girls, all three of them looking the worse for celebrating. Still, it was clear that the man was handsome, with markedly Middle Eastern features emphasised by dusky skin and a trim goatee. In the image he seemed annoyed that he had been photographed, grimacing at the photographer.

 

Zoe continued. “This is Qasim Amador, son of the late Ekram. And sole inheritor all of his father’s money, making him just another very rich arsehole that spends most of their time swanning around London getting pissed off their tits.”

 

Madison smiled slightly at Zoe’s bitter tone. “And is he a diplomat as well?”

 

Zoe shook her head as her smile returned. “No, he’s some sort of investment banker, works out of one of the big, glitzy buildings on Canary Wharf. And this,” she held up a finger, “is where it gets curious. I was looking into him, doing all the basic background stuff when I hit a wall.”

Zoe turned, tapped at her key board again and the photograph was replaced by a scrolling screen of indecipherable texts and symbols. “So this berk has zero online presence, no Facebook account or personal e-mail. I can’t even find out where he lives, there are no traces. That was the first puzzler, so then I decided to try and take a little look around where he works, which is where I found this.”

She gestured triumphantly at the screen.

 

Madison squinted at the screen as she tried to follow the other woman’s reasoning. “Okay, so it’s weird that party-boy doesn’t have any social activity, but what’s so strange about...?” Madison waved a hand at the monitor display. Not that she knew what she was looking at.

 

“It’s a firewall. A really, _really_ good firewall,” Zoe paused for effect, “I know that because I _built_ the sodding thing, or at least most of it.”

 

Madison’s eyes flicked back to the mysterious code, feeling like she was missing something, “ _Your_ firewall? As in ‘it was stolen from you’?”

 

Zoe pursed her lips. “Not exactly. This is old work of mine, back when I was a snotty teen just starting out. I always had a flair for this sort of thing, so much so that even my father took notice. One day out of the blue he ‘requested’ that I write a security program for him, he claimed that it was to mask and protect any of his business transactions from being tracked or monitored.”

 

“And you helped him?”Madison asked warily.

 

“I did. Saying no would’ve just being asking for trouble, and I used the opportunity to ask for some state of the art upgrades to my entire tech. Plus a few other favours, gadgets and the like. I was young and didn’t really figure it made a difference he got me to do it or found somebody else to help him with his criminal ways. At least this way I got something out of it.”

 

Madison could understand that, at least in theory. As a virtual prisoner, Zoe’s options would’ve been limited. “That means that your father and the place where this Amador guy works must be connected. Maybe they even knew each other. Good.”

She paced around a bit, “So if this is your uh, firewall, shouldn’t you know how to get around it? Like a backdoor or something?” she reasoned.

 

Zoe tilted her head towards Madison. “You’re so cute when you try and talk tech.”

Madison narrowed her eyes at her, so she continued on, “But like I was saying, this isn’t all my work. I recognise my coding, but it’s been upgraded by somebody with serious talent. So there’s no ‘backdoor’, not anymore, so no way to penetrate and get inside from this distance. But if I had direct access to an on-site terminal...”

 

When Zoe trailed off Madison prompted her. “What do you mean by ‘on-site terminal’?”

 

Zoe’s smile faded a little. “Yeah, and there lies the snag. I’m betting there’s a whole bunch of detailed info about this shady Amador character and what he’s up to. Maybe even a list of all his grubby associates, but to get at them you have to find a way to one of his computers. And the only one we know about is at his workplace. And that’s in his highly secure office in a high-rise located in the centre of London.”

 

Madison paused for a moment and then nodded. “So we have to break in. Fair enough. Why don’t you get hold of the building plans and we can take a look.”

 

Zoe tapped on another keyboard and the monitor changed, now showing a detailed graphic of some blueprints. “Done and done. The plans weren’t that hard to snatch. And I’ve even gone over a couple of viable burglar scenarios.”

 

Madison smiled in satisfaction. “Good. No problem then. We can discuss it over breakfast.” She turned to leave but Zoe was shaking her head adamantly.

 

“No, no. There is no ‘we’ here Mad, I’m sorry but I can’t. I have this thing about heights and climbing around small spaces and never setting a foot inside a skyscraper ever again for as long as I live. Call it a phobia or a life-plan if you want, I don’t care. I spent too much of my life stuck in one and it’s not happening again. I’m just not cat-thief material.”

 

 “You just got finished saying that you needed ‘on-site’ access and now you’re saying you can’t?”

Madison couldn’t help but gesture in exasperation.

 

The Asian girl squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Madison had rarely seen Zoe this uneasy.

“Can’t and won’t, sorry. I mean, I could rig something up so I could access his computer remotely, from outside the building, but that doesn’t matter. To get past the crap-load of security this place has to offer we’re gonna need top end infiltration gear and a third person to be inside with you. And as neither of us actually _have_ any friends, and the only contacts I have in England are a bunch of MMO players from Oxford.”

Zoe sighed as she finished and looked at Madison glumly.

 

Madison paused and thought for a long moment, turning the problem over in her mind. In fact she did know somebody who might well be able to provide information on the right people in England. She just hadn’t talked to her recently.

She was reluctant to involve her old friend in this side of her life, but if Madison could trust anybody then she would be able to trust _her_.

 

She looked at Zoe levelly. “Print out detailed specs on all the security measures, go over your plans again and make a list of everything we could possibly need to break in to this place. Then get us two tickets for this Friday on the first flight to London. I’ll take care of the rest.”

 

Zoe raised an eyebrow. “You know, just because one of your stripper friends owns a slinky catsuit doesn’t automatically make her a suitable choice for international-”

 

“Just _do it_ , Zoe,” Madison snapped, then paused before softening her tone, “I need to make a phone call and then take another trip. I’ll be back by Thursday night.”

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“To see a friend.”

 


	2. Flashback: Not A Holiday

 

9 Years Ago

 

 

Madison grabbed at the arm clamped around her throat as she pushed back against the solid form of her attacker. She felt a second arm lock against the back of her neck as her opponent tried to jam her into the crook of his elbow to squeeze and choke her. She twisted wildly in response, pushing off the floor and hurling all her weight rearward. The two of them shot backwards hard against the wall and jolted with the impact.  She quickly managed to get her fingers under the hand grasping her shoulder and seized hold of the thumb.

She twisted it up hard enough for the grip to loosen, and then jabbed an elbow back into the man behind her to gain more room. She felt the clinch falter and her assailant grunt as her arm connected with hard stomach muscle. She stomped down on the arch of his foot and pulled away while he was stumbling in pain.

Instead of retreating away Madison whirled and swung her arm, hammering a brutal right hook at his face. It took him solidly in the jaw even as he brought his arm up to block, but he easily deflected her follow-up left cross. Then he seized her by the wrist and slammed a brutal knee into her stomach then he twisted and flipped her around to deftly throw her over his hip.

 

Madison somersaulted and her back thudded loudly against the padded training mat. “Ow.”She let out a pained breath that blew some of the hair away from her eyes.

Above her and upside-down, the priest shook his head in dismay. “Now, what did you do wrong there?”

 

Madison huffed in frustration. “I wasn’t fast enough.”

 

The priest frowned. “Nonsense, your speed is fine. You struck me several times even before I was able to respond, so what else?”

 

The younger woman pretended to think for a moment. “Oh, I dunno. Could it be that you’ve be doing this Tea Kwon Do crap longer than I have?”

 

“It’s Jujutsu and that’s beside the point. No matter how long we practice I am always going to be more experienced than you, Madison. But you can learn to react to your opponent. To adapt to them.” With that, the priest stretched out his arm and helped the younger girl to her feet.

 

Madison was busily trying to roll the kinks out her shoulder. “I had you on the ropes and so I pressed the advantage. What’s wrong with that?”

 

The priest turned to the nearby bench before passed her back a bottle of water. “I’m larger and stronger than you, so moving too soon into my reach again is a big mistake. I wasn’t tired or injured enough for you to be able to press any momentary advantage.”

 

Madison swirled some water around in her mouth before swallowing. “So how am I supposed to know when the time is right?”

 

The priest shrugged slightly. “Be patient. Adapting to your opponent gets easier after a while. If they are aggressive, you defend. If they withdraw, you attack. Anticipate. Flow with them, read when they are about to lunge and when they are feigning.”

He paused and then added, “Be like water.”

 

“Be like water.” Madison repeated skeptically.

 

The priest considered her for a moment. “Why am I teaching you to defend yourself?”

 

Madison grinned. “Ooh, I know this one, ‘to inflict agonising pain on my enemies’,” she said brightly.

 

The priest sighed and reminded her. “I teach you so you can better know yourself, and to know your own capabilities. So you can better protect yourself, and to have the confidence that comes from knowing, if and when, to use force in a situation.”

 

Madison rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yeah, yeah. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Be like Cain from ‘Kung Fu’, etcetera.”

 

The priest shook his head and turned away. He moved over to the chest of drawers at the far side of the room. “Remember what we said about cultural references?”

 

Madison’s cheeky tone continued. “That they confuse you terribly, and therefore it’s cruel?”

 

“I believe my exact words were ‘stop it.’”

He opened the top drawer and paused.

He hadn’t been looking forward to this particular conversation, but he couldn’t put it off any longer, “If we could be a bit more serious for the moment, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

 

He turned as Madison sat down on the bench against the far wall.

“Discuss away,” She said and swigged again from her water bottle.

 

The priest cleared his throat. “In the time that you’ve been here I have managed to teach you much. You’re a gifted student Madison and you put a great deal of effort into learning. I’m very proud of your progress you’ve made. But as much as I’d like to I can’t teach you everything there is to know about the world, and as it happens an opportunity has come up for me.”

 

Madison frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

 

The priest sighed. “I’m going to be busy for the next couple of months, some personal business that urgently needs tending to. And I’m going to be unable to focus my energies on your... development. I’m going away, just for a little while.”

 

Madison shrugged. “Oh. Well, that’s cool. I can just kick it round here for a while. Fix up the church a bit; I could get rid of that pigeon problem.”

 

The priest nervously tapped at the envelope in his hands. “The pigeons are quite fine where they are Madison, and as I said, I can’t teach you everything. With that in mind, while I’m busy, you’re going to be staying with a close friend of mine. I trust him implicitly, so that means you can too. He can give you a fresh perspective on many things.” Hesitantly the priest walked over and held out the stuffed bundle towards her.

 

Madison paused a moment before taking the packet and opening it up and peering at the money and bus ticket inside. “Montana. You’re sending me to Montana!” Madison cried, her voice rising in protest, “Oh, c’mon! I’m getting shoved off to _duelling banjo_ country, so you can have a holiday!”

 

The priest grimaced in mild irritation. “It’s _not_ a holiday and it’s _not_ duelling banjos. I’m almost certain that was West Virginia, not Montana.”

 

Madison shook her head. “Oh, so _that_ movie you’ve seen. Point is, this sucks.” She actually pouted.

 

“It’s the great outdoors Madison, not the back of beyond. The man owns a very fine horse ranch and I believe the weather there is quite lovely in the summer. You’ll enjoy yourself.”

 

Madison grouched peevishly. “Great. So he’s going to have me shovelling out the stables for two months and call it ‘character building’.”

 

The priest sighed in exasperation. “You might want to wait until you get there before you start hating it.”

 

Madison folded her arms defiantly. “This is _bullshit_ and I’m not going.”

 

“That’s enough!” The priest snapped at her outburst.

He kept his voice firm. “You can’t stay here, so if you’re not on that bus come this afternoon then you best not be here when I get back, as per our agreement.”

 

Madison glared at him balefully for a moment before getting up and storming out of the room and heading for the den, presumably to pack her things.

 

The priest heaved a sigh after she departed. Why must she be so difficult, when it comes to everything other than training? He headed back over to the chest of drawers and opened the second drawer down with the key he kept around his neck.

He sorted through the papers kept there before pulling out the manila folder and flicked through it. His eyes took in the witness statements, the crime scene photos showing the burned ruins of the house that was once a home. He scanned the police evidence logs and the coroners reports, saw the details that didn’t tally and the discrepancies in all the correlated data. He felt the long-dormant stirring of anger inside him, of rage at the unfairness of a life destroyed.

Still, he needed to know for sure, needed to know what had actually happened that night.

 

So he would take a little trip abroad.

 

 

*~~*

 

 

Madison scowled at the rolling countryside that the bus trundled through. Hour after hour of nothing to stare at but endless grass, hills and trees. And horses, lots and lots of horses. Oh what joy. She could almost hear the sound of IQ’s dropping, of actual pants being replaced by button up dungarees, of countless country and western radio stations filling the airwaves with strumming guitars.

 

This sucked. A lot.

 

Her ass was numb from sitting for so long.

Her neck had an uncomfortable crick in it from trying to sleep with her head against the window and her stomach felt sour from how she’d left things with the priest.

He hadn’t spoken much as he dropped her off at the bus station; he’d seemed too preoccupied with his own thoughts. His last words had been a cursory request for her to be careful, and not to worry because she would be met at the end of her journey by somebody who would pick her up and take her the rest of the way. Or maybe just somebody in a pickup, she wasn’t sure which.

 

Whatever, it was still somebody she didn’t _know_. She’d built up a healthy wariness of strangers, mostly because strangers tended to be assholes. There were the few exceptions, but in general people were pretty awful.

And people who lived in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of farm animals, probably didn’t have any social skills whatsoever.

 

Madison was roused from her depressing thoughts as the greyhound turned off to one side and lumbered to a stop. She peered out of the window and saw a large sign declaring that they’d arrived at ‘Big Timber’, which was what passed for a city apparently. She guessed that its tourist attractions included ‘world’s largest ball of string’ or some other crap. Still, this is where she was supposed to get off.

Madison grabbed her backpack, scooted out of her seat and walked to the head of the coach. She had briefly considered staying onboard and riding this sucker to the end of the line, but that would just be rebellion for the sake of it. Also she’d end up lost in the middle of god-knows-where, her geography was shaky enough when it came to the American ‘heartland’, but ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ had given her a fair idea of what to expect.

 

Madison stepped off the bus, shouldered her pack and glanced around warily at the surrounding town. There was no bus station to speak of; this was just a dropping off point onto the sidewalk.

The street was quiet, the immediate town had settled down with the approaching dusk, even though the sun was still hours from setting.

Madison shivered slightly and started walking, looking aimlessly for signs of a parked car. Somebody holding a board with her name on it might have been too much to ask.

Then there was a honk of a car horn from across the street. Madison turned and saw somebody get out of a dark blue pickup (Madison owed herself five bucks) and waved a hand to get her attention.

 

There was a hiss-rumble as the bus took off again; breezing past her in a swirl of diesel fumes, and then the street was clear. Madison gave the deserted street another once over before heading directly for the truck and the person standing in front of it.

At first glance Madison had guessed it was a man. She had been expecting one and this person was certainly tall enough, maybe an inch or so under six foot. Plus they were dressed in boots, jeans, a big, tan jacket and ballcap.

But getting closer she saw that the red hair peaking out from the cap was in a high ponytail and that the clothes she could see outlined a much more slender, girlish figure.

Madison closed and saw a lightly tanned, pretty face that was smattered with freckles. The face smiled at her. “Hi there, you must be Madison. You sure do stand out.”Her voice was confident and friendly, with and maybe an undercurrent of excitement.

 

Madison stopped a couple of meters away and nodded cautiously. “Uh-huh. I was told some guy was going to pick me up.”

She didn’t make an effort to hide her grumpiness. Eighteen hours on an overnight bus trip with just three rest stops along the way would do that to a person.

 

The girl just shook her head brightly. “Nope, sorry. My Pop told me to come fetch you up to the ranch. You wanna hop in?”

Without waiting for an answer the girl raced around the front of the truck and got up into the driver’s side of the cab.

Madison opened her door but didn’t get in. “Are you sure you’re old enough to be driving this on your own?”

 

The redhead was busily fiddling with her screen visor, “Absolutely. Been driving since I was thirteen,” She turned to Madison and gave her that big smile again, “You’ll be safe with me behind the wheel, I swear. I got all the _really_ crazy stunts out of my system on the way down here.”

 

So Madison grabbed the top of the truck and swung herself in, still frowning. Was that a joke? Country yokel girl just made with the funny. Huh. “So you’re not gonna try and scare the sheltered city folk with any of that engine-revving or wheelie-pulling?”

 

The redhead started the car and checked the rear-view mirror, she seemed confident enough behind the wheel. “Promise. I’m a good girl really, and my Pop wanted you delivered mostly intact, so...” She trailed off as she pulled out into the quiet street.

 

“That’s a comfort.” Madison remarked. She looked back at the smattering of buildings as the truck rumbled along the road, “So, this is ‘Big Timber’.”She tried to keep her voice neutral in an effort to be polite.

 

The redhead must have caught something in her tone anyway. “Not much to look at I know but it’s a real nice place to live. Plus, it gets pretty busy round these parts about this time of year.”

 

“Why? Is it like horse, uh, wrangling season or something?”

 

The other girl tilted her head to send a smirk her way. “Tourists. _Fishing_ mostly, plus there’s lots of driving trails and hiking, plus camping out in the National Park.”

 

“So a thrill a minute then.” Madison remarked dryly.

 

“Probably not for somebody from _LA_ , but we do alright. Plenty of colourful folk.”

 

“It must be safe if your Dad is letting you out alone in the evenings to pick up a stranger. Two gals out by themselves.”

 

“What, you’re trying to scare me?”

The redhead smiled and shook her head like Madison was talking nonsense, “Besides, you’re not exactly a stranger.”

 

Madison felt herself stiffen on reflex. “Oh and why’s that? What’ve you been told?”

 

A shrug. “Nothing really, just that you were comin’ is all. And Pop knows the guy who’s,” she hesitated for a moment, “Looking after you, or whatever. They’re friends from way back I think. So it’s like you have references or something.”

 

Madison relaxed again and tucked that little bit of knowledge away for later. Somebody who knew more about the priest and his past was intriguing enough in itself. She settled back in her seat. “Right. Sure. Well anyway, you gotta to be careful. World’s full of creeps.”

 

“Not around here.”

 

Madison gave the other girl a knowing look. “Just takes one lunatic to ruin your whole drive. Even around here there’s probably some rabid mountain man looking for something young and tender.”

 

Surprisingly that brought a loud giggle from the other girl. “Ew, gross! No to rabid mountain men. Just lots of sweaty ranch hands who like to think they’re rugged cowboys, that’s all we’re gonna run into out here.”

 

Madison smirked. “Run over?”

 

“ _Into_ ,” The other girl turned her head fully and grinned at Madison, “You’re funny. And a trouble-maker.”

 

Madison made a wondering, innocent face. “I am?”

 

“I can tell. I know one when I see one,” She said in a very stern voice, then whispered, “I’m one as well.”

 

“You? You’re a trouble-maker? I thought you said that you were a good girl?”

 

“I’m that, too.”

 

Madison found herself smiling despite herself and wrinkled her nose. “You can’t be both.” She suddenly realised that she hadn’t even bothered to ask this girl’s name. This girl who was actually being _nice_ to her.

 

The redhead nodded emphatically. “I can. I make _benign mischief_.” She grinned at her joke. Madison couldn’t help but laugh, even thought it was a slightly dorky thing to say.

 

The redhead slowed the truck as she turned it off the main road and onto a side trail. She glanced at Madison as she did so. “I’m Caitlyn by the way.”

 

Madison smiled again. “Nice to meet you.”

 

And to her surprise she actually meant it.

 


	3. Familiar Faces

 

In the middle of the mostly empty gym, the man and the woman fought, dancing around the boxing ring, circling and probing at each other as they tried to gain an advantage.

Jenny quickly ducked under the massive sweeping roundhouse designed to snap her head off and nimbly hopped backwards further out of range. The man spinning round to face her was a solid six-two, two hundred and ten pound warrior. He was lean and glistening and well-muscled, with a lot of those muscles in his long scything legs that were now edging towards her in a calculated formation.

 

The blonde woman skirted backwards, avoiding a strong sweeping kick designed to knock her off of her feet and out of the fight. If she fell then her opponent could easily use his extra height and weight to get down and pin her.

She knew what would happen to her if she lost.

 

The dark-haired man came forward again, having driven her back and then hemming her towards the corner of the ring, intent of closing and boxing her in. Jenny skipped forward quickly, ignoring a telegraphed feign with a jabbing elbow to power a front kick of her own into his stomach. He took a step back from the sheer momentum of the hit, but was tough enough to take the blow without flinching.

He retaliated swiftly, curling a high knee up and around to slam against her hip but she was quicker. She dropped an elbow down that caught him in the tendons just below the kneecap, stopping the impetus of his attack cold.

Then Jenny took the opening offered by her off-balance opponent, she worked at his face with a jab that he barely batted away and then a much stronger right-cross that he didn’t see coming. He snapped back with a right of his own that she was expecting and turned under it, she pivoted and threw up her right elbow so it connected solidly with the side of his skull. She allowed a grim smile at the solid sound of impact and the shudder that went through him.

But he fought through the dizziness and lashed out, grabbing her around the arms and into a tight clinch before pulling her close. She was mashed against his chest as he drove his forehead forward and smacked it against the side of her head, barely an inch away from her temple. Jenny saw black spots even the man twisted and threw a powerful knee up into her side. She grunted in pain as the blow rocked her, the force of it almost throwing her from his grip.

 

Jenny felt her anger blaze up at the lazy tactic and struck back, pulling her body in as  in close as she could to him, to gain a bit of leeway before jack-knifing her left fist up and into the cluster of nerves in his ribcage, before pounding on his floating rib ferociously. She felt him shift to protect his midsection so she kicked her right leg into the side of his knee, just hard enough to make him stumble before dipping and throwing a hard right arm up into an uppercut directly into his crotch.

She felt another tremor go through him as he choked out a breath, bent double and broke out of the clinch, pushing her away. Before he could back away fully and straighten up, Jenny tensed her legs and sprung up, managing bring her leg up high enough to catch the man squarely in the side of the jaw with her knee. His head snapped to one side at the force. He was already beginning to topple, when she caught his eye socket with the downward swing of her left elbow. That was going to leave a mark.

The man hit the mat hard, his body limp, just as Jenny touched back down on her feet.

 

Outside the ring on the training bench the melodious tone of her cell phone rang out. Turning her back on Pierre, her trainer, she tore the wrappings off her hands and ducked under the ring rope. She hopped down to the ground before grabbing up her phone; she glanced once at the caller ID ‘unknown’ before answering.

 

A familiar voice at the other end spoke up. “Miss Fatale?”

 

Jenny smiled slightly and turned as she heard her trainer groan softly from the centre of the ring. She saw him slowly raise his head and put a tentatively put a hand to his jaw. Jenny offered him a playful wink. “Councillor, so lovely to heard from you again. How are you?”

 

“Oh uh, fine I suppose... You sound winded, I hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

 

Jenny arched her back slightly and rolled her hips from side to side to iron out any kinks. “No, no. Just in the middle of my training session. Of course I have some time for a tête-à-tête with you.”

The man at the end of the phone sounded both apologetic and relieved. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to meet with you this time, but my employer does wish to make use of your services again, as we previously discussed.”

 

Jenny placed the phone in the crook of her neck and used her free hand to help Pierre on his wobbly descent from the arena. “Is the same target involved? The woman?”

 

“That’s correct. It seems that she managed the wrest some information from Mr. Garza after all. She’s still on the trail.”

 

“Persistent little minx isn’t she? Oh, how I do enjoy a challenge. Do I get a name this time?”

 

“Oh yes of course. Given that this job is international in nature, and the fact that although we know who she’s after, we’re not sure when she’ll target them, my employer thinks that it’s necessary to name names.”

 

Jenny rolled her eyes in exasperation. He certainly did talk like a lawyer. “Well then?”

At the same time she gestured with her hand for Pierre to start getting undressed.

He raised an eyebrow, but nonetheless complied, beginning by stripping off his wrappings.

 

Jenny turned away as she continued listening to the lawyer. “Her name is Madison Shaw, and she is a woman with a rather colourful history. Her target is a Turkish man by the name of Qasim Amador. He works for an International banking firm based in the Corinthia building on London’s Canary Wharf. He, ah, needs to be silenced before Miss Shaw has a chance to reach him there.”

The lawyer cleared his throat, “I will also reiterate that Miss Shaw herself is not to be harmed, only hindered, those terms still stand.”

 

“Oh, I remember. And don’t worry. Miss Shaw certainly made an impression; she’s not to be underestimated. I’ll make certain that her lead becomes a dead end.” Jenny turned around to find Pierre ready and naked. She smiled as she ran her eyes over his chiselled form, “In two hours I’ll call back with account details about where to send my money, then I’m all yours councillor.” She flipped her phone shut with a clack, “Until then though...”

 

Pierre, who had been tenderly prodding the area around his eye socket for swelling, stopped and smiled eagerly. “You’re all mine.” He finished.

 

Jenny threw her phone into her gym bag and stepped closer to Pierre, placing her hands on his chest and tilted her smiling face towards him. She then quickly swept his legs out from under him so he fell back and landed on the training mat. “No Pierre, did you forget how this works? _You lost_ , so that means you’re all _mine_.”

 

Jenny then made a show of untying her shorts and sliding out of them, puling down her panties and kicking them to one side. She then brought her arms up, grabbed the bottom of her tight sports top and bra and peeled them up and off.

 

She saw Pierre’s eyes widen as she was revealed in all her glory. She moved up so that she was level with his shoulders and then stepped over him, one foot near each armpit.

She smirked down at him, “All this,” She gestured at herself, “Could have been yours to play with as you wished. As it is...”She lowered herself down until her butt firmly pressed against his chest, her folded knees now pinning his arms against the floor, and then she leaned forward so she was spread over his face, “Get to work.”

Pierre raised his head and did so. Jenny sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. She thought of the stunning brunette with the magnetic eyes and deadly aim. A brunette who now had a name.

 

Madison Shaw.

 

 

*~~*

 

 

Madison sat in her car outside the diner, and tried to digest the unfamiliar emotion she was feeling. As a rule she never got nervous when meeting anybody. She wasn’t shy, or needy or self-conscious about herself. For as long as she could remember, she had always possessed toughness, a certain self-assuredness. And usually she didn’t go out of her way to seek the approval of her peers. She had been a tough kid because she’d had to be, and now when she worked she _had_ to exude confidence and sex appeal. Awkwardness was almost foreign to her.

 

Yet at this moment, she had strong nervy fluttering in her stomach, thinking about meeting up with Caitlyn again after so many years, the fluttering that had been with her ever since the drive from the airport. Years full of hurried phone calls, fabricated excuses and deliberate missed opportunities to meet up in person. And now she was here to ask a favour from somebody she’d deliberately put distance between, for a long time.

Madison didn’t know what to expect when she went into the diner. But the fact that when she spoke to her on the phone, Caitlyn had suggested that they met here instead of up at the ranch didn’t bode well.

Maybe Caitlyn would be cold and unfriendly; or be seething with anger, or perhaps just sad and distant.

Hey, at least if Caitlyn pulled a gun Madison would know what to do.

 

Madison sighed. _Not funny._

 

She adjusted her sunglasses and opened the car door, stepping out into fresh country air of the dusty car park. Every other car in the lot was either a battered pickup or a big, shiny truck. And they all came equipped with their very own gun racks. Madison’s sleek Audi stood out a mile, but she’d seen it at the rental place and had been unable to resist.

 

The diner itself was a substantial chrome structure that glinted brilliantly in the daylight. It was elevated so that customers would have clear views over any parked cars, to the expansive Montana countryside that surrounded them. Through the windows, she could see that the layout of the place was a large U-shape, with old fashioned corner booths along the outer walls and a central running counter top where customers could sit at. Madison felt the familiar twinge of memory and wondered if she’d even visited this place before.

 

Madison crossed over and climbed the steps to the corner door, opened it and stepped inside to be greeted by the cool blast of powerful air conditioning. She shivered slightly at the sensation as she looked across the diner.

It was lunch time, so it was crowded and busy. Waitresses scurried from booths packed with vacationing families, while ranchers sat and staked out their own bit of counter top with their elbows.

She scanned the aisles but it was only when Caitlyn stood up from her seat in the corner, that Madison managed to spot her.

Then she cautiously made her way over, taking in the sight of a friend that she hadn’t seen in so long.

 

In some ways Caitlyn hadn’t changed that much, she still dressing like a cowgirl, with tight work jeans that seemed painted on, topped with a wide leather belt and a large, shiny buckle, a checked shirt knotted low at her midriff showed off her trim stomach and the flair of her hips. Her tan jacket was open and drew attention to the heavy swell of her chest. She had her bright red hair worn down and loosely pulled back behind her ears, framing her attractive features.

But now she held herself more like a confident young woman instead of an insecure teenager, Madison supposed that six years in the Army will do that to a person. Caitlyn had always been very grown up in many ways, but a stint in the military has undoubtedly given her that much more confidence.

 

Madison stopped by the edge of the booth, trying to gauge her old friend’s reaction. “Hi.”

 

Caitlyn just smiled warmly and surprised Madison by pulling her into a hug. “Hi, Maddie.”

She gave her shoulders a firm squeeze before pulling back and gesturing to the seats, “Sit yourself down here. Man, I can’t believe this. Just look at you, you look _fantastic_.”

 

Madison felt herself flush with both relief and at the compliment. “Thanks. You know me, looking good is my business.”

Caitlyn knew all about Madison’s chosen profession, and while she didn’t exactly approve- she thought Madison could do a lot better- she never make Madison feel bad about it either.

 

They sat opposite each other and Caitlyn craned her neck for a waitress. “You’re still dancing at that club?” She _never_ called it stripping or exotic dancing, “I thought you were going to try some modelling work. I bet you could sell anything like _that_.” She snapped her fingers.

Her words were said lightly but with real meaning.

Caitlyn thought that Madison could do anything she wanted to if she put her mind to it.

Ironically she wasn’t too far off the reality.

 

Madison nodded as she shrugged off her denim jacket, absently rubbing her bare arms in the cool air of the diner. “I’ve done some photo shoots, got a portfolio out there. The works coming, but not steady enough to go full time,” Madison looked at her friend and smiled, “And what about you. You’re in great shape. Does that mean that the rough and tumble country girl still finds the soldiering life satisfying?”

 

Caitlyn grinned happily. “Oh, it’s terrific. You wouldn’t believe some of the _beasts_ I’ve gotten to work on, although being a monkey wrench isn’t really ‘soldiering’. I still get to go where the vehicles are though.”

She shrugged and her smile faltered a little, “I’m on extended leave at the moment, not sure when I’m going to be able to get back.”

 

Madison’s forehead creased in concern. “What’s up?”

 

Instead of answering right away Caitlyn called a waitress over. “Morning, could I get a steak sandwich, chilli cheese fries, coleslaw and a large cherry coke,” The waitress wrote it all down and nodded, “Thanks.” Caitlyn looked over at Madison expectantly.

Madison belatedly glanced down at the menu. “Um, I’ll have the chicken salad and a grapefruit juice.” She waited for the woman to leave, “I see that you still like to stuff your face with junk food.”She grinned fondly and shook her head.

 

Caitlyn smiled self-consciously. “So I _like_ to eat, that’s not a crime. Some of us don’t have to maintain their heavenly form for the sake of work. Besides, I need the fuel. Most of the food we get on base isn’t really...” The redhead shook her head, “it’s pretty bad okay.”

 

Madison leaned back and gave her friend a measured look. “So there are a few things that you miss about civilian life.”

 

“Lots of stuff.” Caitlyn nodded absently.

There was a pause, “So how long has it been? Since we’ve been like this?”

She tucked her hair behind her ear, a nervous habit that Madison recognised from way back.

 

Madison smiled at the memory. “Almost three years. You’d finished your first tour and had some leave, so I showed you round all the LA sights.”

 

“That was a great week. Too short though.” Caitlyn said softly.

She was looking out the window at something distant, possibly something that wasn’t even there. “Pop’s really sick. He had a heart attack, a big one this time. And he probably isn’t going to be strong enough to run the ranch anymore.”

Her voice was neutral, toneless, but she bit her bottom lip in worry.

 

Madison couldn’t image a bear of a man such as Caitlyn’s father ever getting sick. He’d always seemed every inch the rugged marine, with that ‘tough-as-nails’ aura. “I’m so sorry. Truly Cat, that’s terrible,” Madison murmured awkwardly, “...wait a minute, ‘this time?’ How many has he had?”

 

“The other two, smaller, ones which apparently nobody bothered to tell me about. Sean and Micheal knew but not me.” Caitlyn shook her head grimly, “I always have to be _protected_.”

 

Madison shifted uncomfortably. “Well...Is that such a bad thing?”

 

The redhead’s mouth flattened into a hard line, with the freckles it briefly made her look like a determined girl scout. “Being lied to is never a good thing Madison. And if the people we love start lying to us...” She trailed off talking about her brothers. Then with some effort she brightened a little, “Anyway, you didn’t get together to hear about all my problems I’m sure. What did you want to talk about?”

 

Madison frowned. “I was actually hoping to ask your Dad some questions, but if he’s as ill as you say...”

 

The redhead looked intrigued. “Oh? Like, what questions? Maybe I can help you out instead.”

 

Madison hesitated; she really had wanted to keep Caitlyn out of any of this. “It’s going to seem strange but...” She stared intently at her friend, “listen Cat, have I ever asked you for anything? I mean, ever?”

 

Caitlyn shrugged before remembering something and smiling slightly. “You asked me to put your tent up for you when we went camping the first time. Oh, and you asked me to show you how to make s’mores. And Irish coffee.”

 

Madison kept her tone serious. “I mean anything _important_. Because I’m going to ask you for some information and you can’t...you can’t ask what it’s for, okay.”

 

Caitlyn scrunched up her face in uncertainty. “This is going to be what you would’ve asked Pop?” Madison nodded so the redhead was thoughtful for a moment, “Well, okay, ask away, and if I can help I will.”

 

Madison felt some relief. “Thank you. It’s about one of your dad’s old army buddies, not the ones who used to come visit and teach you how to shoot or field strip an M60. But one of the other ones, from the old days, from his war stories.”

Madison leaned forward and lowered her voice a little, “There was a guy, a British soldier he met somewhere in Africa I think, who went into the black market business after he got out of the military. He was London based, and I remember your Dad saying that last he heard, the guy was making a living supplying pretty much anything, for those who needed it. I have to get his name and maybe a way to contact him, although I’ve got a friend who can do that sort of legwork.”

 

Caitlyn’s eyebrows rose in surprise and she leaned back. She thought for a moment.  “Um, I do know who you’re talking about, his name was Harold Connelly. He was a British Para and I think Pop said he owns a pub now, sort of a front business. He should be easy to find.”

She gave Madison a searching look and then shook her head, “I’m not sure it’ll help you though.”

 

Madison kept her expression neutral. “Why’s that?”

 

“Well for one, I know that the guy only deals with ex-military types, mercenaries or shady criminals. People he knows he can trust or come with recommendations, that sort of thing. He’s not the sort of guy who you could approach cold. You’d need an introduction.”

 

Madison wondered if her impressive underworld rep as a West Coast ‘fixer’ of problems would have reached as far as the seedier side of London.

Somehow she doubted it. “What if I were to make it worth his while, say with a serious amount of cash?”

 

Caitlyn balked slightly. “Then he’d either see it as some sort of setup or as an opportunity to roll you. Connolly... isn’t exactly a good guy Maddie. Some people come out of the Army with their worldview all screwed up, the guy’s dangerous.” She paused and then said, “At least to people he _doesn’t_ know. If he knows ol’ Joe Murphy’s daughter is in town looking to meet then-“

 

Madison shook her head adamantly. “No. I don’t want you anywhere near this, Cat, it’s too dangerous.”

 

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. “Oh, dangerous? Like maybe _Afghanistan dangerous_?” Then her expression changed and she smiled gently at Madison, “I’ve changed, Maddie, and I’ve seen my fair share of risky situations, believe me. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you -for whatever reason- walk into this alone without somebody there to watch your back?”

 

Madison tried to scowl defiantly. “I can handle myself.”

 

Caitlyn shrugged. “That’s not in question, Maddie. I’ve seen you in action and I know how tough you can be. But the way I see it if you want to talk to Connelly, then you need somebody he’s willing to talk with. And that’s me.”

 

Madison looked down at the table top unhappily. “Talking to guys like this might earn you a dishonourable discharge Cat.”

 

Caitlyn sighed patiently like Madison was being overly dramatic. “Please. I would just be taking a little holiday to England, visiting a pub and meeting up with an old friend of the family. Simple. And if, along the way, you want to let me in on any of what’s actually going on, that’s entirely up to you.”

 

Caitlyn was interrupted by the arrival of the food being put down in front of her.

She smiled good-naturedly, “C’mon Maddie, think of it like an adventure.”

She picked up a cheese fry and munched on it happily, before offering the bowl to Madison.

 

Madison smiled wanly at the offer as she picked at her chicken salad.

She didn’t want Caitlyn involved but if her friend was right then she really didn’t see another option. She wondered if she should tell Caitlyn the truth, if she _could_ tell her friend the truth, and how much of it she should reveal.

Madison sighed inwardly. She found that she had suddenly lost her appetite.

 


	4. Flashback: The Big Outdoors

 

9 Years Ago

 

 

Madison watched the countryside roll and lurch by her window as the blue pickup bounced across the acres of surrounding wilderness. It was all very...green.

It was actually all so wide and expansive it was a bit intimidating. Madison thought of herself as a city girl. Noise, people, buildings, the background of her life had almost always been these things.

Even though she wasn’t sure she liked people that much. They were the context in which she lived, but here and now, with wide expanses pressing in on all sides, she felt overwhelmed.

 

“You’re pretty quiet.” Caitlyn said.

 

Weird name. Apparently it was Irish or something, which fit with the fiery red hair and freckles. Plus it explained the pleasant talkativeness. Weren’t Irish people supposed to be all chatty and friendly? And big drinkers as well.

Madison nodded at the outside of the cab. “Big.” She said simply.

 

The sun was very low in the sky and so shadows were stretching long across the ground.

Madison hoped that they got wherever they were going soon, darkness and being in a strange place were never a good mix for her peace of mind.

 

“You know what they say, ‘big country’. It looks more wide open during the day believe me.”

Caitlyn drove the truck over another sweeping rise and a group of buildings appeared in the distance.

Dense pine forests and the blue magnificence of the mountains beyond acted as a backdrop.

 

Straight in front of them was a sprawling farmhouse, built from grey stone and red pine. It had a porch that stretched around the entire front of the house, gables and a large chimney. Beyond that and way over on the left hand side was a solid looking barn which currently had its door flung open and somebody was slowly reversing another, much rustier, truck into its interior. Between the two nearer buildings were a few long, low structures that Madison guessed were stables, a tool shed, a dug-over area for maybe growing plants and things, plus a large fenced off coral for the horses.

 

“Welcome to Walton’s Mountain.” Madison muttered as she stared through the windshield at the impressive layout.

 

“Actually, it’s Murphy’s Ranch.” Caitlyn gestured to an overhead sign; a name carved rustic style into a plank, attached to an arch that stretched over the road. At either side of it was a rugged, thickly hewn fence that marked the outlying borders of the ranch.

 

 They passed through the gate and down the smooth track that curved towards the front of the house. Caitlyn gradually slowed the truck and pulled up not far from the front porch. Madison saw a man walking over from the direction of the barn, he was taking his hat off and absently swatting at a cloud of bugs that were swarming all over the place.

 

Caitlyn opened her door. “Come and meet Pop and then we can get you settled in.” She gave Madison an expectant smile before sliding out. The man, presumably her father, called out something and Caitlyn walked on over, casting the occasional glance back at Madison.

 

Madison watched and waited as the two of them talked. The man was big, a good few inches taller than his daughter, and broad in the shoulders. His hair was a short, iron grey buzz cut and his rugged, weathered face was so tanned that he looked kind of like a walnut in Madison’s eyes. As he talked to Caitlyn he intermittently looked over at Madison in the truck.

He didn’t smile once.

 

Great. Bracing herself for yet another stranger meeting, she got out of the truck and made her way over, taking her time and making sure that this guy knew that she didn’t hustle for anybody.

Caitlyn turned and both of them stared as she approached, the redhead still smiling slightly and the big man continuing to scowl unhappily.

 

Madison shrugged a greeting when she got nearer. “Hey there,”

 

The man didn’t take his eyes from her as he addressed Caitlyn. “Cate honey why don’t you go inside, freshen up and then rustle us somethin’ up to eat. Me and Miss Shaw here are gonna have a little talk.”

His voice was surprisingly soft, but deep and rich, like Madison would’ve expected from an actor or something.

 

Caitlyn’s smile faltered a bit but she simply nodded and hurried up the porch and inside. The man watched her go and then regarded Madison evenly. “You have rules?”

 

Madison tilted her head. “Huh?”

 

“You have rules where you come from, yes or no? We don’t take grunts as answers around here.”

His soft voice had a firm edge.

 

Madison felt herself instantly bristle at his pompousness. “Hey, I don’t know who the hell you-”

 

He cut her off cleanly. “What I am is your host, while you’re staying here missy. And you’re a guest, which means that you obey my rules or you’re gone. Unlike the city, you piss me off, there’s nowhere to go but the woods. ‘Cause around here there’s miles and miles of nothing. Just you, me and horseshit.”

 

Madison stepped forward and stared challengingly at the man.

“Well then I guess I better go and say hello to the horseshit already because it can’t be any worse than this.”

 

Madison glared up at the man as she noticed than Caitlyn had appeared back on the porch.

She’d frozen when she’d overheard the last exchange. “Um, so... I’m doing steaks, okay Pop?”

 

The man’s gaze never left Madison’s. Then she saw his expression soften and he grinned easily.

“Ha! I’m just messin’. Bern wasn’t lyin’ about you. He said you were a regular pistol and you are.”

He stepped forward and patted Madison on the shoulder, “Being here’s just like being with your priest fella. Work hard, don’t screw up, and we’ll get along fine, even teach ya a whole bunch of fun stuff.”

 

He turned and smiled up at his daughter. “Steaks you say? Sounds great. Then we can get Madison here all squared away.”

 

 

*~~*

 

 

Madison idly poked a stick into the flickering campfire as she peered into the surrounding woods.

The two girls had walked for half an hour away from the ranch before Caitlyn had shown her a clear place to camp.

It was a small clearing with looming trees on all sides and a gully over on the left that held a stream.

 

She didn’t think it was the best way to spend her third night at the ranch, but she had to admit that she was almost beginning to have fun. The nights out here were warm and still, the country had a refreshing, earthy smell that she found relaxing. Even the night rustlings and chirping of crickets was strangely exotic.

As for sleeping outdoors, she could handle this for one night.

She wasn’t a wimpy city kid after all.

 

Madison shifted on her log and looked over at the other girl. “So, your Dad’s pretty crazy then?”

She saw Caitlyn busily preparing something by her own sleeping bag.

 

Caitlyn shrugged as she worked. “I guess I’m just used to him and his ways. But yeah, I suppose he’s not what you expect when you think ‘war vet who lives in the woods’. Eccentric.”

 

Madison stared around at the shadowy forest. “Is it just you and him all alone out here?”

 

The redhead nodded. “Didn’t used to be. But all my brothers are gone. Michael’s away at college now, Sean’s one of Boston’s finest and Aiden’s been made a lieutenant in the Army. Pop’s very proud. Now it’s just the two of us unless we need to hire a ranch hand or two, and then we have a couple of guys who come by to help with the stables, when I go back to school.”

 

Thinking about unpleasant stable jobs Madison chuckled in relief. “Good to know. So, uh, what about your Mom?”

 

Caitlyn pushed her hair behind her ears and looked over at her. “She died when I was eleven. She got really sick and weak for a long while and never got better. Pop wasn’t the same after she passed.”

The redhead hesitated, “What about your folks?”

 

Madison stared sombrely into the fire. “Died when I was a kid. It’s been foster care since then. But I’m with the priest about a year now and... It’s been pretty good. He doesn’t try nothing creepy, or slap me around or any of the usual. He cares, y’know?”

 

The redhead was quite for a long moment, and then said softly, “I’m real sorry about your family. Don’t you have any other kin who could look after you?”

 

It was Madison’s turn to shrug. “Just me. Only child and nobody came forward to claim me so... I dunno, could be I have an aunt or uncle out there somewhere, but whatever. If they don’t give a shit then why should I?”

She turned and looked over at Caitlyn and smiled, “And I don’t _need_ looking after. I can take care of myself.”

 

Caitlyn looked down again. “I think everybody needs somebody they can count on. That’s what family’s for.”

Then she stopped what she was doing and nodded in satisfaction, “All set.”

 

“I do just fine on my own.” Madison replied mildly and then raised her eyebrows. “Seems like a whole lot of trouble just to make s’mores.”

 

“Not just any s’mores. Besides you wanted to know.”

 

“I asked what the marshmallows were for, that’s all. I didn’t expect you to become wilderness chef and break out your ‘special recipe’.”

 

Caitlyn ignored her and handed her a marshmallow stuck on a length of thin wire. “Hush now and toast your marshmallow.”

 

Frowning Madison took the thin wire and held it over the fire, after a moment Caitlyn leaned over and gently took hold of her wrist, and then adjusted Madison’s arm upwards a little so the marshmallow was higher above the flame. “Turn it over a couple of times and when it starts to brown pull it back.”

Then Caitlyn carefully laid eight squares of crackers out on a flat, smooth rock by the fire. Each biscuit has a large round chunk of chocolate on it. Then she put eight other crackers down, lining them up so they were opposite.

 

Madison frowned at a thought that had been bothering her since she’d arrived. “Your Dad called the priest ‘Bern’, like he knew his name or something. Do you know where they met up?”

 

Caitlyn stuck a marshmallow on to a toasting fork and held it over the crackling flame. “Every friend my Dad ever made was in the army with him at some point, so I guess they must’ve served together?

 

“Huh. Don’t actually know his real name, he’s always just ‘Priest’ to me. Or padre or Father. Far as I know all his parishioners just call him Father too.”

 

They were quiet for a while and after a minute of turning Madison brought her melting and slightly blackened remains out of the fire and peered at it. “Pretty much done.”

 

Caitlyn took hers out and gently blew on it. “I’ll say. Now take it and press it down on top of the chocolate-“

 

“Yeah, I think I got it from here.” Madison laid the white confection down on the cracker and pushed it off with her finger, hissing as the hot substance stuck fast to her skin, “Fucking napalm!” She rubbed her finger on her thigh before sticking it in her mouth and sucking hard.

 

Caitlyn giggled at her effort. “I was going to say, ‘use your fingernail to slide it off’, but that works too.”

 

Madison made a face at her as the redhead deftly pressed her marshmallow down and flicked it off the toasting fork. Then she took two more crackers and pressed them down on the top, making a mini-sandwich.

Madison watched her finish up. “Ta-dah!” Caitlyn gestured expansively and then picked up the two snacks, “Here you go.”

 

Madison gave her a wry look. “You’re a bit too pleased with yourself I think.”

She took the proffered snack and stuffed it into her mouth.

As soon as she crunched down, she tasted the warm gooey marshmallow mixed with rich, caramel chocolate. It was delicious.

 

Madison moaned as she savoured it. “That’s... _really_ good. How did you do that?”

 

“The chocolate is homemade, my secret recipe. And I use salt crackers to offset the sweetness- makes it taste more chocolate-y,”

Caitlyn tilted her head and smiled hesitantly “You really like them?”

 

Madison nodded and quickly picked up another marshmallow. “Give these to junkies instead of crack, and they’d be all-set for the whole ‘war on drugs’ thing.”

 

Caitlyn smiled and blushed. “Thanks. I like to cook and it’s not like I don’t get plenty of practice, but-”

 

Suddenly a piercing whistle cut through the night air.

Caitlyn paused before rolling her eyes. “Oh Pop, right _now_? Geez.”

 

Madison looked around, puzzled. “What’s going on? Is he summoning you or something?”

 

Caitlyn shook her head and stood up. “No, it’s just his signal to say that we’re on. Quick, get up.”

She flapped her hand at Madison before turning to pack her bag.

 

Madison slowly got to her feet. “You’re ‘on’. On what? What’s going on and where are you going?”

 

Caitlyn turned and smiled. “ _We_ are going to try and get ourselves to the Elk-Head Point before he gets the chance to nail us with that paintball gun of his.”

Caitlyn paused and then added, “It’s a thing we do.”

 

Madison slowly shook her head as she tried to follow. “Wait a sec. You’re telling me that a ‘thing’ you do is ‘get hunted’, _that’s_ your father/daughter bonding activity. So you dad _is_ a crazy war vet who lives in the woods. He’s Rambo.”

 

Caitlyn grinned as she swung her pack up onto her shoulder. “Yep. Don’t worry. It’s _fun_ , kinda like a big adrenaline rush. It’s not ‘real’ but believe me the paintballs sting like a bitch if they hit you. Pops got a darn good aim too, so we better hurry, he’ll be after us in no time.”

 

Madison took a step back and held up her hands. “I’m not taking part in your ‘crazy hick Olympics’. This is what happens when people are denied cable, y’know.”

 

Caitlyn just shook her head. “He’s doing this for _you_ , trying to make you feel welcome. He knows the kinda cool stuff you do with that priest fella. This is just more of the same, bit of hiking, chasing, climbing and outsmarting the old coot. ” Caitlyn picked up Madison’s pack and offered it to her “Besides, if we beat Pop to the Point without getting tagged then _we_ get a prize.”

 

Madison narrowed her eyes in interest. “Prize?”

 

“We get to go on Pop’s gun range and try some of the real fun stuff. You ever fired an AK on full auto? It’s a blast.”

 

Madison gaped in disbelief. “No way!”

 

Caitlyn grinned and nodded. “Worth getting a little sweaty, doncha think?”

 

Madison quickly dropped to her knees and pulled her sleeping bag and a few clothes in her bag. After a moment she was ready. “Then let’s go win this thing. Your Pop hasn’t seen anyone like me before.”

 

Then they both ran off into the forest.

 

 


	5. Secrets & Lies

 

Zoe’s nose scrunched in annoyed confusion. “I don’t see why you have to involve me in your tangled web of deceit.”

 

Madison rubbed her forehead in frustration. “I’m not. Just, when she gets here let me do the talking, and back up what I say.”

 

“About the upcoming robbery?” Zoe said brightly.

 

Madison glanced around to see if anyone had caught that, but there was nobody nearby to overhear. “Look, I’ll explain what we’re going to do. I’ll simply gloss over some of the _why_. I’ll tell her it’s to do with what happened to my parents. That’s mostly the truth.”

 

Zoe seemed surprised. “She knows about that? But you don’t tell anybody about that. When did you tell her?”

 

Madison blew out an exasperated breath and looked around at the busy airport lounge for Caitlyn. She had told Madison that it would take a day to settle some affairs with her family but then she’d follow her back to LA to meet up with her at the airport.

Madison had already bought her friend a ticket to London on the same flight as her. “A long time ago, she’s a very old friend.”

 

Zoe narrowed her eyes in mild scepticism. “That you’ve never mentioned up until a couple of days ago. And now we’re supposed to be travelling together, and I don’t even know if I’ll like her. It’s all very stressful.”

Zoe clutched at her backpack with uncharacteristic nervousness.

 

Madison shook her distractedly as she scanned the crowds. “”You’ll like her, she’s very charming. And why the hell should you be stressed anyway? Is ‘fear of flying’ on your growing list of phobias?”

 

“Don’t mock.” Zoe leaned closer and lowered her voice. “And it might be because of the fake passport I’m using because my real _name_ raises a few red flags. Y’know that old chestnut. Girl has a Dad; Dad is an evil crime boss. Dad gets brutally gunned down by vigilante, but girl is still tarnished by his criminal ways, just because she did a few questionable things in her youth.”

 

This was the first Madison was hearing of this. “Questionable things?”

 

Zoe avoided Madison’s gaze. “Peer pressure. And all my peers at that point were criminals so...”

Zoe shrugged, “It’s not I did anything _that_ serious. Nicked a couple of things, a bit of credit card fraud, nothing any other thirteen year old wouldn’t have done given half a chance.”

 

“Thirteen?” Madison stared at the Asian girl before shaking her head in disbelief. “That’s it. I’m _definitely_ doing all the talking. You’re not saying anything about that; we met each other some other way.”

 

Zoe nodded thoughtfully. “Right and how exactly would someone like you go about meeting me? A bachelorette party maybe? Do you even do those? And are you still my landlady?”

 

Before Madison could reply, she caught sight of distinctive red hair bobbing through the crowd, and a later Caitlyn came into view, carefully looking around for Madison. She had her army-issue, olive-green duffle bag over one shoulder and was dressed in faded jeans and with a clingy dark blue gingham top under her tan jacket. She spotted Madison after a few moments and gave a wave before walking over.

 

“Hello, you didn’t tell me you knew Daisy Duke?” Zoe quipped, her voice light and joking.

 

Madison shot a warning look in her direction. “I’m not sure you should be critiquing anybody else’s fashion. I’ve seen your wardrobe.”

 

Zoe beamed brightly in return. “My clothes are all nicely funky, eclectic and post-modern, perfectly reflecting my personality.”

 

Madison kept her voice low and her face pleasant. “Just play nice, she’s doing me a big favour, okay?” Then she smiled widely as Caitlyn reached them, “Hey there, glad you made it. And just in time, we’re going to be boarding in thirty minutes or so.

 

Caitlyn looked briefly apologetic. “Sorry, took me a little longer to clear things up with my Dad, he’s feeling better though and we’ve got an appointment to see a cardiologist next week.” She glanced from Madison to Zoe, hesitantly “Uh, hi.”

 

Madison gestured from Caitlyn to Zoe. “Cate Murphy, meet Zoe Matsuo, she’s my...” Madison hesitated.

 

“Accountant and business partner.” Zoe finished smoothly and stepped closer to Caitlyn, taking her by the hand and shaking it, “So pleased to meet you, I didn’t even know Madison had any friends outside the dance circuit. How long have you known her?”

 

Still smiling Caitlyn cast a bewildered glance towards Madison before answering. “Um, on and off since we were teenagers really. Madison’s always so busy that we don’t often... sorry, did you say ‘business partner?”

 

Zoe nodded. “That’s right, she’s part owner of the dance club where she works. She didn’t tell you?”

Caitlyn shook her head slightly, “She’s always been so modest.” Zoe looked over at Madison and smiled fondly.

 

Caitlyn’s eyes moved to Madison and she found herself nodding in confirmation. “It’s true, I co-own the club. I didn’t mention it because...” She trailed off and shrugged like she was embarrassed.

She hadn’t mentioned it, because it might’ve been hard to explain how an exotic dancer raised the amount of cash needed to buy into a business like that. But Madison’s off-hours work had easily given her enough funds over the years.

 

Caitlyn smiled and shook her head in admiration. “Maddie, that’s terrific! Good for you. I’ll bet that you’re way more successful than you let on.”

 

“You have no idea.” Zoe agreed cheerfully before catching Caitlyn’s attention, “Away, I need to ask you something. This fellow, your Dad’s chum? Do you have a way of getting hold of him?”

 

Caitlyn shot another glance at Madison before nodding. “Sure, I’ve talked to Harry, told him that I’m coming over and that I need to do some business with him. He gave me an e-mail address, that I can use to send him the details of what we need.”

 

Zoe nodded, as she stood back and swung her backpack off her shoulder. She squatted and pulled her laptop out of the bag. “Super. Now if you give me the address, I can send the list of what we need before we board.”

 

Caitlyn pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. “He said that the more specific you are with what you want, they less likely that you’ll be disappointed. Plus its forty eight hours from request to delivery, and that’s as a favour to me. I told him that there wouldn’t be anything too criminal, like guns.” She looked at Madison for confirmation.

 

Madison gave a small smile of reassurance. “No guns, just some specialist stuff we need.”

The plan Zoe had shared with her wouldn’t require any gunplay. The security, while impressive, didn’t carry any firepower. Madison didn’t think it would be necessary to escalate things by bringing a weapon in with her.

If everything went well, nobody would even know she was there.

 

Zoe stood up and plucked the paper from Caitlyn’s fingers. “Cheers for this. I’ll just be a few ticks.”

She then wandered off to find somewhere to sit down.

And also possibly to buy snacks.

 

Caitlyn gave Madison an amused smile. “Pretty colourful for an accountant.”

 

Madison smirked at her friends tone. “She does other things, but she’s a whiz with computers. Best I’ve seen.”

 

“She must be a good friend to help you out with all this shady business.”

 

“Well that colourfulness you mentioned extends to her past as well,” Madison paused as her voice became more serious. “And listen, thanks for helping me out like this. I really do appreciate it.”

 

Caitlyn shrugged lightly. “You know me, always ready for a little excitement. Exotic locales, beautiful women and mysterious meetings with a hint of danger.”

She grinned mischievously, “Honestly I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a vacation.”

 

“You always were the adrenaline junkie.” Madison mused lightly. “It still means a lot, and after we get aboard I’ll tell you what we’re going to be doing when we get to London.”

 

Caitlyn furrowed her brow as she pretended to be relieved. “Well that’s a good, otherwise I was going to have to talk Zoe’s ear off interrogating her. She wouldn’t have gotten a moments peace.”

 

 

*~~*

 

 

Zoe continued to snore softly against the porthole window and squirmed under her blanket. She seemed content to settle curled up next to Madison as she settled herself in her seat, looking across at Caitlyn opposite. The redhead seemed amused by Zoe’s napping as well as being impressed with her surroundings.

“Are you okay?” Madison asked.

 

“I’m just savouring the novel experience of travelling first class.”

Caitlyn stretched out her long legs and nodded her head at Zoe, “I’m guessing she does this sort of thing a lot?”

 

Madison grinned. “I saw her take some travel sickness pills, so I’m thinking not. Too many of them make you drowsy, so it’s Zoe’s naptime for the rest of the trip.”

 

Caitlyn craned her neck to look past Madison’s seat and across the aisle at the lack of passengers.

“Looks like we’ve got some space for a private chat. So... you wanna fill me in?”

 

Madison took a breath before replying. “Sure. You remember what I told you about my parents, that they died when I was kid.”

 

Caitlyn’s brow creased in sympathy. “I remember. It was a fire right? You told me that you didn’t think it was an accident, and that the person responsible was never caught.”

 

Madison nodded. “I don’t...remember my parents that well. Almost everything was burned up, so I never had any pictures or mementos to help keep them in my mind. All I have is some hazy recollections of my mom...”

She pressed on to her point, “Anyway, I when I got older I decided to investigate deeper into it, see if there was anything left over from the fire for me to... hold on to, I guess.”

 

Caitlyn eyed her sadly. “And did you find anything?”

 

Madison leaned forward a bit and Caitlyn did the same. “A few things, but more importantly I discovered more about the details surrounding what happened to the investigation. Like the fact that the arson investigator who was given my case was bought off, that a corrupt cop suppressed forensic evidence about what happened that night, and that somebody _targeted_ my parents specifically.”

She felt the anger build in her own voice as she remembered pursuing those first few petty little men, men who had helped cause so much damage.

 

Caitlyn shook her head in bewilderment. “God, why would anyone do something like that? Just... murder your parents in cold blood and then cover it up. That’s horrible.”

She thought for a moment, “What sort of work were they involved in?”

 

“I went through some of the leftover papers that survived, and the reports in the press. It turns out my Mom was in real estate and my Dad was a history professor, he was always away on the lecture circuit I guess. Neither of them did anything that seemed that it might be illegal,” Madison scowled determinedly.

“But sometimes criminals don’t need a reason to do terrible things.”

 

Caitlyn thought out loud. “Maybe one of them saw something? Just a random ‘wrong place, wrong time’ kinda deal.”

She shook away the speculation, “But what has this got to do with London and whatever you’re up to when we get there?”

 

“Information. We need it, and the place to get it, is inside a secure high-rise. Answers to who killed my parents are on a computer in an office. That’s all you need to know.”

 

“And you can’t go to the police?”

 

Madison just shook her head slightly. “Not really an option. We land, hole up in the hotel for a day or two, and then when we get the equipment we need from Connelly…”

 

Caitlyn smiled. “Then we go and pull off a heist?”

 

Madison frowned grumpily. “No. Then _you_ take in the nearest tourist sights whilst Zoe and I handle _my_ business.”

 

Caitlyn sighed lazily and leant back against her seat.

Then she smiled that knowing smile of hers and closed her eyes. “We’ll see.” She said simply.

 

Madison didn’t like the look of that smile, but she convinced herself that when it came down to it, Caitlyn could be dissuaded from further involvement. It was the safest course for everyone involved.

That was Madison’s plan anyway.

 


	6. Dealbreakers

 

Madison and Caitlyn stepped out of the pouring rain of the street outside into the dry, noisy interior of the pub. Madison adjusted her overcoat as she looked around the smoky, crowded room.

Thankfully there was no clichéd ‘everybody stops what they are doing and looks at the strangers’ moment, this being a bustling city pub that was raucous with voices. But there were more than a few lingering glances in their direction. Madison and Cat stood out from any crowd, even if they were slightly the worse from a timely downpour.

 

Caitlyn, whose clothes had gotten slightly damper than Madison during their dash from the cab, pushed her soggy hair back behind her ears as she made her way towards the bar. She skirted the odd entrenched local, casting the occasional disarming smile. Before stopping to lean against the counter and nodding at the barman to draw his attention.

 

Madison joined her there and looked about. Caitlyn brushed droplets of water from her jacket as she leaned in her direction. “You want anything?”

 

“Do they serve towels?” Madison asked dryly.

 

“It’s London in April, what did you expect? Besides, people tend to come in here to get wet, not to get dry. What about something to warm you up like bourbon?”

 

Madison simply shook her head. She wanted to stay sharp for this meeting with Connelly.

 

The barman came over and looked expectant.

Caitlyn smiled at him. “Glass of Bourbon, and tell Connelly his four o’clock is here.”

The man nodded as he busily poured her a glass, set it in front of her and then headed into the back room.

 

Madison watched as her friend sipped at the amber liquid. “You seem comfortable enough.”

 

Caitlyn shrugged. “Connelly’s a business man. And we’re buyers he can trust, it’s a simple transaction. You’ve got the money?”

 

“Of course.” Madison had gone to the bank yesterday, after going over the plan with Zoe for about the fourth time. While that was happening, Zoe and Caitlyn had cased the Canary Wharf building.

Zoe had made a note of the taller building across the street, as well as the locations of all the street cameras. There seemed to be surveillance everywhere in the city, and it made Madison all the more wary.

This meeting with underworld types just added to that worry.

“I hope you’re right, simple is always best.”

 

“Except when it comes to guys.” Caitlyn replied.

 

Madison tilted her head and smiled slyly as she considered.

“Even then...”

 

The barman returned. He caught Caitlyn’s eye and nodded in the direction of another man, who was standing by the end of the bar, seemingly waiting for them.

The man was rough-looking, his face covered with thick stubble, except for the broad moustache that drooped over his upper lip.

That, coupled with the faded denim jacket, made him look like an extra from Miami Vice. One of the mooks that ended up shooting at the cops every week.

He made a quick gesture with his hand and moved towards the back of the pub.

 

Madison followed first, conscious of both her lack of a weapon, and the fat stack of cash in the small duffle she carried. Caitlyn came close behind, as the man in front walked through a curtained off back area.

They trailed him through a cramped room equipped with a dart board and pool table, and then down a corridor that lead out into the back street.

Directly across from the back door was a large storehouse with its loading doors wide open.

Madison saw three other men waiting for them inside.

The rain continued to relentlessly sheet down, as the man in front of her dashed across the way, splashing through ankle deep puddles to duck into shelter again. Madison did the same, her thick boots stopping her feet becoming submerged by rainwater.

 

She stepped inside onto the dry concrete of the storehouse and looked around, giving the strangers a once over from the corner of her eye.

The storehouse held shelves stuffed with car parts, boxes of scrap metal and paint cans. Racks of tyres and canisters filled the length of the back wall, all of them supplies for a nearby garage. To the far left was a black transit van, parked with its rear doors facing the group of men.

Judging from the wet splashes around it, the vehicle hadn’t been parked there long. Madison guessed that it contained the supplies they had come to purchase.

On the right just behind Madison were a couple of heavy-looking work benches, battered, oil-stained and well used. She noted the few scattered tools on the otherwise empty surface. 

 

The moustachioed man that they had followed from the pub leaned in and muttered something to a short, burly man. He moved to stand next to a guy, who could’ve been his twin, save for the absence of facial hair. He was cleaner shaven except for prominent sideburns. But both men were the same built, had the same cheap haircut and were even dressed similarly.

 

The shorter man carried himself with a confidence that Madison often saw in dangerous men. He had thinning blonde hair highlighted with threads of grey. His clothes were good quality, a tailored suit that was cut to flatter his solid build, expensive shoes, and a raincoat draped over one arm.

He was looking at Madison with undisguised interest.

 

The fourth man, who was standing by the van, gained Madison’s attention just by his sheer bulk. He was a shade over six foot and large enough all over that she couldn’t see where his shoulders ended and his neck began. He was overweight, but like a sumo wrestler, it was a fat that was solidly overlaid on top of muscle. He was Asian and his head was bald, which made his whole smooth head seem smaller by comparison. His chubby, pudgy face twitched with hostility making him look like a monstrous, petulant child. He was there as pure muscle for the meeting, which was interesting in itself.

 

She took all this in within moments as Caitlyn danced in from the rain to stand beside her.

Her friend acted more relaxed and smiled happily at the blonde man, Connelly, and she moved closer.

 

Caitlyn spoke first, gesturing to the street outside. “So much for green and pleasant, right Harry?”

 

Connelly smiled genially. “Can’t be having nice weather on top of everything else, otherwise every bugger on earth will wanna come here.”

He took a couple of steps forward and opened his arms to her, “Jesus Joe’s girl has gone and grown up. I saw pics of you as a nipper.”

 

Caitlyn embraced him for a moment before pulling back. “Yeah, I grew up and followed in Pop’s footsteps. I’m with the Sixth Armoured Cavalry now.”

 

Connelly gave her the once over again, glancing at his men. “Like the big guns do ya? Yeah, that makes sense.” He winked at the two men to his side before nodding at her, “Your old man must be proud.”

 

Caitlyn gave an awkward smile. “Sometimes. I lost my brother, Aiden, during the war so his feelings are... mixed.”

 

Connelly shook his head in sympathy. “Sorry to ‘ere about Joe’s eldest. Shame that. Anyway-” He gestured over at Madison, “don’t you want to introduce me to your friend?”

 

Caitlyn took a step back so she was next to Madison again and gave a simple nod. “Harry, this is Madison, a good friend of mine. She knows my father as well, so she’s fine.”

 

Connelly chuckled genially as his eyes slid over her. “I can see that right enough. Still, second-hand introductions make me nervous. I’m afraid we’re gonna have to search you, Madison, to be on the safe side.”

He nodded at one of the men, “Kevin.”

 

The man with the sideburns stepped forward. “Love to, Boss.”

He moved towards Madison as she took a step backwards and crossed her arms in front of her.

 

Caitlyn objected. “Harry, there’s really no need for this-“

 

He cut her off with a gesture. “Just a precaution we have to live with in my line of work. Undercover types wired up to the arse, that type of thing.”

He gave Caitlyn a hard, measured look, “You understand.”

 

The man called Kevin stepped in front of Madison and made a gesture with his fingers as he leered at her. “Raise your arms away love, so I can get where I need to.”

 

Madison sighed and started as if to obey him, moving her arms up and apart as he reached towards her. Then she suddenly changed course and seized his right wrist as he extended it, cupped her left hand under his right elbow, clamped her fingers there and twisted his arm outward slightly.

 

Madison heard a click-pop of cartilage and Kevin cried out in pained surprise. He quickly backed up, hunched slight, his left arm now hugging his right tight against his chest. “Jesus fuckin’ wept! She just broke my bloody arm!”

 

Madison smiled sweetly and slowly held her hands up.  “Sprained it is all. You’ll be okay in a few hours. But you really should be more careful where you put your hands.” She heard Caitlyn chuckle softly as she turned to look at Connelly, “I don’t like being pawed at without my permission, comes with the job. But if you want to see that I’m not wired...”

 

Madison opened her jacket and pulled her t-shirt up high enough to reveal her body. She was thankful that she’d decided to wear a bra this morning, a glossy, midnight blue satin one, she didn’t want these guys staring at her any longer than necessary.

She turned around enough to show that she didn’t have any wires or recording devices stashed at the small of her back either before dropping her shirt down. “Not a cop.”

 

Connelly seemed amused by what had happened to Kevin, and the display that had followed. “What exactly are you then?”

 

“A dancer who’s had enough experience dealing with grabby customers.”

She gave Kevin a pointed look. He glared back at her reproachfully.

 

Connelly grinned. “Right then, all settled. My goods are in the van; take a look after you’ve shown me the money.”

 

Madison looked at Caitlyn and passed her the duffle. She nodded towards the van and made her way over. She saw the huge wall of a man move to the front doors, open them up and then step back for Madison to see.

She looked over the pile of equipment heaped into four open duffle bags.

Out of one pocket she pulled a printout of everything Zoe had mentioned as they’d gone over the plan that very morning. Including zip lines, climbing harnesses and equipment, a telescopic mirror, wireless headsets, two medium-sized silver canisters, one of liquid nitrogen, the other a fast acting epoxy resin and a pair of powerful night-vision goggles. Everything that they’d asked for.

 

Madison put the list away and zipped up the bags.

She paused before stepping back and closing the doors. There was a tension in the air that had appeared as soon as the money had.

“It’s all here, we’re good.” She looked back to where Connelly was counting the money.

 

“Good. And it looks like that’s all in order.” Connelly said as he shut the duffle, “Now Madison, my associates Tam and Reggie are going to escort you and your goods out of here in the van. Little Kate and I are going to have a talk about her Dad.”

 

Madison eyed him coolly. “I am?”

 

Caitlyn looked puzzled at Connelly. “We are?”

 

“We are.”

Connelly still smiled but now there was no humour in it. “See, back in the day your old man screwed me out of a very lucrative deal on principal. There was some valuable property that we had possession of, property that was in need of a buyer. Your dad would have none of it, and now a little bird tells me that he makes a nice earner breeding fucking thoroughbreds. The way I see it, he owes me and now-” Connelly drew a revolver from behind his back, “I ‘ave you. So he’s going to have to cough up.”

 

Suddenly the big man was looming next to Madison, his hand rested lightly on her shoulder. He scowled down at her.

 

Madison tipped her head towards him. “I’m guessing you must be... Tam?”

 

He wobbled his big head. “You come with me.”

His accent was strong. Madison guessed that he used to be with the tongs, but for whatever reason was now part of Connelly’s crew.

 

Madison shrugged like it was no big deal. She turned her head, caught Caitlyn’s eye and winked at her.

 

Caitlyn’s expression remained confused for a long moment before her face twisted in disbelief and she pointed at Madison. “You... skank, you set me up!”

 

Madison felt her mouth drop open. “Excuse me.”

 

Connelly, with the duffle in one hand and the gun in the other, circled around Caitlyn and cast a suspicious eye at Madison.

 

Caitlyn took a step closer to Madison. “Oh come on, I’m not a complete idiot.”

She gestured towards Connelly. “He says a ‘little bird’ told him exactly how much money my Pop has, and suddenly I’m being held for ransom. While _you_ are being let go with everything you want.”

She took another angry stride towards Madison and glared at her, “How much, huh? How much did it take to decide to sell me out? Rolling customers not enough for you, you’ve got to roll on friends as well.”

 

Madison pulled away from the big man to her left as she strode towards Caitlyn. He let her go, clearly unsure of how to take these turn of events. Connelly was now frowning at the both of them.

 

“How can you think that of me? I didn’t _ask_ for you to come to the meeting, so how exactly would I know to screw you over?”

Madison turned to Connelly, “Go on, tell her. Tell her who informed you about her Dad.”

 

Connelly paused before answering with a shrug. “Woman’s voice on the phone, froggy accent I think. Told me most of what I need to know, pretty much gave the idea actually. Said if I didn’t believe her I should check out what she said, so I did.”

Connelly gestured at Madison with the gun, “Time’s up, you’re gonna bugger off. Reggie, get the lady out of here.”

 

The man with the moustache, Reggie, took a step towards her but Madison ignored him.

She smirked at the redhead. “See, turns out you’re just an idiot, Cat. Sucks to be you, I guess.”

 

Caitlyn glowered at her. “I still think you did it. How’s your French?”

 

“I don’t even know this guy.” Madison gestured towards Harry. “You’re the one who said we could _trust_ him, you dumb bitch!”

 

Caitlyn jabbed an angry finger at her. “And you said not to worry because you could handle any weapons!”

 

Madison angrily rolled her eyes. “I meant like a knife, not a gun. Are you _defective_?”

 

“It’s only a goddam revolver!”

Caitlyn gestured wildly in Harry’s direction, “I thought you were meant to have some sort of ‘edge’.”

She said the last word with air-quotes. Madison thought that was a nice touch.

 

“Screw you!” Madison spat.

 

Caitlyn took a step back towards Harry, like she was stunned by that outburst. “No, screw... you!”

And then Caitlyn spun and ducked in close to Harry, grabbing his gun arm and pushing it to one side and driving the heel of her hand under his jaw. He grunted in surprise and went stumbling back. Caitlyn went with him, wrestling for the pistol.

 

The two men to Madison’s immediate left were momentarily stunned by Caitlyn’s actions, their eyes widened as they tracked her tangling with their boss.

They took their gaze off of Madison for crucial seconds.

 

So Madison acted, ignoring the injured Kevin she stepped forward and booted the nearer Reggie hard between the legs. The man instantly folded in on himself, clutching his groin. Madison followed up with a swift punch to his throat. He toppled backwards, coughing and choking on rising vomit, and lay hunched on the floor.

 

Kevin reacted quicker than she expected. He leaned back away from her even as his left hand scrambled down by his waistband. In an instant she saw a flash of steel come up and slice the air between them. The man’s eyes narrowed as he jabbed the switchblade at her and slashed at her waist.

Kevin was clearly right handed, so his left attack was telegraphed and clumsy, and Madison gracefully avoided the glittering blade. When he brought the knife back, trying to cut across her face, she simply ducked her head back so he swept past her and overbalanced. She then grabbed his hand and shoulder, and pivoted around and pushed him so he rammed into one of the solid work-benches. He folded over the counter, the breath rushing out of him in a whoosh. She swiftly stepped in close behind and punched her elbow into his kidney.

He cried out, dropping the knife and arching his back in pain.

And as he brought his head up, she grabbed his hair and smacked his face downwards, bouncing his head off the counter top.

Blood now gushing from his nose, Kevin slumped unconscious to the floor.

 

Madison then turned to see Caitlyn and Connelly still struggling with the gun. Connelly was shorter than her but powerfully built. He tried to swing them both bodily around and into the nearby shelves.

Caitlyn managed to brace herself against the tires stacked there, and drove an elbow in the man’s gut, forcing a moment of much-needed space between them.

 

An angry bellow caught Madison’s attention and she looked around to see Tam, the tank, lumbering towards her. She quickly turned and grabbed the nearest heavy thing she could lay her hands on- a big wrench, stocky and well-oiled.

 

Tam stepped over Reggie’s whimpering form and planted his feet before taking a wild swing at Madison with his left arm. She ducked under the blow, felt the displaced air of it brush her cheek, and stepped past his body. She moved back again to avoid an angry right hook and then spinning away from his follow up jab.

He kicked clumsily at the air where she’d been moments earlier. And when he was sufficiently off-balance, she swept her arm around and brought the wrench to strike the back of his knee.

Off-balance, Tam stumbled and fell forward. He brought his arm down to stop himself, left hand slapping the concrete so he didn’t plant face-first into the floor. He was pushing himself up as Madison struck again, swinging the wrench across his face like a baseball bat. She felt brief resistance, and heard a wet clunk as metal struck his mouth, and then she brought the tool back in a fierce backhand across his face, squashing his nose.

The big man now tottered on one knee, his face a bloody ruin, but then he started to push himself upright again

Gritting her teeth, Madison spun about and brought all her momentum round to catch him in the chest with a powerful roundhouse. She felt a rib crack and give way in his chest, as she kept spinning, swinging the wrench up and around. Her strike was reminiscent of a golf swing, catching him under his chin.

She saw blood and teeth fly out of his mouth as his head was driven back and then the big Asian toppled backwards. There was a meaty thud as his back hit the concrete, legs and arms splayed in surrender.

 

Madison breathed out a steady breath and lowered her weapon just in time to get tackled from the side. Reggie, coming up off the floor at a run, knocked her back and flat onto a bench. The wrench fell from her grasp as he desperately tried to wrap his hands around her throat. He glared down as he struggled on top of her. His vomit-caked mouth twisted into a grimace as he brought his fist back to strike her. Madison pulled up her legs and used them to push against this waist, bracing herself to dislodge his weight from off of her.

Then there was a flat bang as a gun went off.

 

Madison saw Reggie stiffen and reel away from her squealed. His hands went around clutching at his backside as he flopped off of her and down onto the concrete.

Madison brought her head up to see the gun, still in the combined grip of Connelly and Cat, pointing in her direction. But with a sudden surge of strength, Caitlyn yanked the gun down and out of the man’s grip. She then rose and caught him across the face with it. She half-lifted, half-pushed him, slamming his head hard into a heavy metal cylinder on the shelf behind. Connelly went limp and crumpled down to the ground.

 

Caitlyn turned to Madison panting. “Tough bastard. You okay, Maddie?” She asked, eying at the three downed men in wonderment.

 

Madison faked a pained grimace like she was hurt. “Barely. I’m just glad you knew where I was going with the wink thing.”

 

Caitlyn let out a huff of amusement as bent down to grab the duffle full of cash. “The ‘crazy argument leading towards cat-fight’ always confuses the guys. They don’t know whether to intervene or let it all play out.”

 

“You really did play an irrational bitch very well.” Madison commented mildly before adding, “We should move quickly before one of these assholes wakes up.”

 

Caitlyn nodded and gestured towards the van. “Get in. I’ll drive.” She rushed towards it, the revolver still in her grip.

 

Madison hurdled over the downed body of Tam and moved around to the van. She opened the door as Caitlyn jumped in the other side. She saw that the redhead’s eyes were wide and vibrant with excitement. Madison closed her door shut. “Are you... enjoying yourself?” She asked.

 

“I just shot a guy in the butt.” Caitlyn said in mild astonishment before pausing and eying her slyly. “So...maybe a little.” The keys were in the ignition so she started the van and put it into reverse.

 

She backed up slowly. Madison glanced in her wing mirror “Careful not to run any of them over.”

 

“Oh, wouldn’t that be a shame.” Caitlyn muttered dryly, but she avoided squashing any of the fallen men as she pulled out of the storage locker, into the alley. By this time, the rain had slackened to a drizzle that pattered against the windshield.

 

“I can’t believe Harry. That... total fucksack!” Caitlyn spat. Madison guessed that her friend had learned that new word in the army.

 

Then Harry suddenly appeared in the alley in front of them, the side of his face stained with blood.  
In his hands he had a sawn-off shotgun. He levelled it at the front of the van and smiled grimly.

Caitlyn didn’t hesitate, she rammed the van into first and punched the accelerator, even as she grabbed Madison and pulled them both down into cover. The van squealed on the wet tarmac and shot forward. Madison caught a fleeting glimpse of Connelly as he threw himself to one side. She heard the muffled roar of a shotgun blast and a dull thud as the side front bumper impacted against something as they raced down the alley.

 

Caitlyn righted herself just as the vehicle spat out onto the main road. She snapped a quick look back before pulling the van to the right and turning on the windshield wipers.

“Always nice to run into old friends.” She muttered sarcastically.

 

Madison smiled. “You mean run _over_.”

 

Caitlyn blinked and then after a moment smiled in remembrance. She shook her head, “You’re a troublemaker Madison Shaw.”

 

Madison nodded. “Takes one to know one.”

 

They drove back to the hotel.

 

 


End file.
